A "must read" for anyone who thinks we are logical, rational thinkers.

So, we're smart right? Rational, logical thinkers? Ummm... No.

We may imagine we are making smart, logical decisions but we're all prone to unconscious biases and distorted, illogical thinking patterns. Result -- we make poor decisions, with sometimes disastrous results.

Thinking is hard work, and our brains are lazy. When presented with difficult questions, we take short cuts, and subconsciously replace difficult questions with easier ones which we prefer to answer. Result: poor decisions, based on the unconsciously-substituted "easier" question we actually answered.

This book is one of those few which will never be obsolete, and will always repay revisiting. For anyone involved in decision making, or HR jobs, or psychology, or curious about how humans goof up so often, this book is fascinating.

It is by no means a quick, or easy, read. The ideas here require time and effort to absorb and internalise. But anything revolutionary is challenging at the beginning.

A lifetime's worth of perception and wise insights is shared here generously, humbly, cogently -- and each chapter ends with some illustrative statements which crystallise the chapter topic in real life scenarios.

A wealth of material copiously illustrated with examples throughout. A book for every thinking person. It could well change the way you think -- for the better. Who knows who else might benefit from that....

I cannot recommend this book too highly..Read full review

Common sense repackaged as insights, psychobabble and "new" theories.

Psychology book in which common sense is presented as psychobabble and jargon then dispensed as science and new discoveries or "insights" into the way people think. For example the presentation of "prospect theory", in which someone's decision making process between two variables is found to be a function of what they are comparing. Such as the choice between getting a million dollars for sure or a 25% chance of getting four million, is found to be different for someone who already has ten million, compared to someone who has nothing. This can be summed up in the simple common sense phrase "It's all relative", with no need to research or explain or needlessly develop "new" behavioural theories. Then the equally absurd "theory induced blindness" in which a researcher develops a theory and can't see things any other way. A classic case of someone not being able to see the wood for the trees. Even the main premise of the book as referred to in it's title is simply about instinctive (fast) and considered (slow) thinking. It goes on and on in the same vain for over four hundred pages without offering a single new insight which could not be encapsulated by a simple common sense couplet or well known idiom or proverb. This cannot be disguised by the author's chatty and self-effacing writing style in which his familiarity with us and occasional pretension of doubt of his own theories is another manipulative tool used so we can forgive our "friend" for his true but rehashed drivel and jargonisation. Not only that, but such insights, rather than being of use to humanity, or adding to the sum of human knowledge, are useful only to the worst and most cynical and untrustworthy type of manipulative psychologists; the marketeers, advertisers and salesmen.Read full review

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Excellent book

What a wonderfully written book. Anybody who has any interest in ways of thinking and reacting - intuitively, subconsciously or deeply considered - should read this. I’m an animator and found the subject of believable actions and reactions a fascinating subject in order for my characters to appear more realistic. I’d used my system 2 for far too long on whether to purchase this book. Trust me, buy it. It’s great work.
There’s a ‘Long Now Seminar’ podcast available for anybody wanting a taster.
I can see how Kahneman won a Nobel prize. Recommended readRead full review

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Really good stuff

Hi there,
The point is I went through this book in Polish language. It is really good thing. From my point of view what is strongly required is a need to go from the first page to the end. In conclusion I need to say the knowledge inside this book makes life easier.

Kind regards
MarcinRead full review

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Good

Looks nice, new. Just delivery took very long.
The book itself is very interesting and easy to read.

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Love it

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Great book, it will challenge you and change the way you think

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A++

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Billiant

I wish I had read this book earlier in my life. A work of genius.

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You don't think rationally

Who isn't interested in how we think? This book is great at exposing the funny way we go about making decisions.

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